[b]Canada![/b]

“Or what,” Jason says, in mocking imitation of... oh, it’s himself. “What are you going to do, send me to the pits? And then they sent me to the pits. I just couldn’t handle the bullshit, you know? The constant pressure of oh, prove you’re a person, because a person is a servile little slave. They made a mistake when they decided I was a person, I guess. Really, I was just terrified, but... well, you can only deal with that bullshit sanctimonity for so long, you get me? Fuck [i]off,[/i] just because you have lasers and spaceships doesn’t mean you’re gods, or angels, or however their fucked-up religion works.”

Oof. The kid’s a last-chancer: they throw him to the Lionesses, and then if he survives, he’s either scared straight or useless for more training (and you saving him definitely tilted him towards the latter) and if he dies, well, obviously he should have been a better student. You came close during your training, but you had Tirzah pulling strings on your behalf to keep you on a special accelerated course, working with a carefully constructed new identity.

Which means that she’s the only person who knows both of your identities, and she holds that over you so carefully. She hasn’t made a move yet about your extracurriculars, and that’s obviously because there’s still good in her and you can save her and you definitely shouldn’t tell Anathet or Marianne because they’d jump to conclusions.

“What was it that Spanish lady said? Better to live on your feet, than... you get the picture.” He’s scared of dying, terrified even, but too stubborn to break, so he’s clinging to his bravado like a shield even as it splinters. He’ll die crying up there, sooner rather than later.

Unless you change that.

***

[b]Marianne![/b]

“Yes, yes, I will, I’ll do everything you say, I’ll be your good girl,” Jerry says, and then lowers herself onto her face, chained hands stretched out in front of her, and grovels desperately in the Annunaki style.

Your keen ears catch Set’s voice. Ah, she’s coming. Good. She’s a better hand at this sort of thing, even though you’re definitely the better actress. She’s just got a magic touch for those Djinn, no? And those feeling powers, the ones that meant you had to tell her who you were early, before she figured out and blurted it out.

But she’s taking her time, and you have a little more time to play with Jerry. Blow off some steam. Make sure she remembers her encounter with the demon of her nightmares for the rest of her life. You might be passing up on the big boost to your reputation... but you can still help your legend grow.

***

[b]Set![/b]

You’re approaching the doors now. If everything went right, Marianne’s in there with Jerioth, and she’s cracked open the doors and is already plundering the library. If everything went wrong, she’s not there, or worse, she’s been captured and you’re walking into a trap. Either way, you’re definitely picking up Fear and Humiliation coming from inside that room.

The black-eyed (or eyeless, yes, she is that too) girl is following you around. [[i]smashing the face of Marduk, smash smash smash[/i]] Huh. That’s an intensely personal grudge. Then— [[i]holding, petting, stroking fur, mother cat taking care of small fuzzy kitten[/i]]

That last bit, the feeling about cats, suggests either she’s familiar with them or picked it up from your mind. Possibility: what if she’s the projection of a superhero from the prison somewhere in the Temple of Enki? Or an actual escapee who didn’t bring all her faculties with her?

[[i]a mummified cat being lowered into an ornate black sarcophagus[/i]] One gets the feeling that wasn’t so much a threat as thinking out loud, word association.